Metal foils have long been used for manufacturing containers and tubes for packaging and dispensing various products, including paste, Gel and Cream type products. Such containers and tubes have frequently been made from a single foil layer. However, containers and tubes made from metal foil have had several disadvantages compared to containers made of plastic. Metal tubes tend to dent and deform more readily, crack with a moderate amount of flexure, often react with the filled product and they are more expensive.
More recently, a large share of the tube market has been taken by flexible sheet structure materials having a multiplicity of polymeric layers. Typically, such tubes have an inner heat sealable layer, an outer heat sealable layer, and a barrier layer interposed therebetween. Additional layers may be used in conventional structures to provide other properties or qualities.
Layers of a non-polymeric nature, such as paper and thin metal foils, may also be included in these sheet materials to provide specialized performance functions. It is known, for example, to provide a layer of thin aluminum foil as a high quality barrier layer and luster. When foil is used, it is common practice to use a highly adherent polymer to adhere the foil to its adjacent layers.
However, Aluminum foil layer is considered as foreign material in the plastic multilayer and therefore not eco-friendly. On the other hand, commonly available metalized such as film base laminate Polyester, Polypropylene, polyamide, polyethylene consists of usage of pre-metalized polyester or polypropylene film and, sandwiching and laminating metalized film with inner and outer thermoplastic film such as low density polyethylene, linear low density polyethylene, co-polymer of ethylene. However, these metalized film base laminate gets delaminated at metal and film interface thereby having problems in stability.
Also, today, surface gloss or luster effect plays an important role in marketing the product. However, tubes find in the market are not more lustrous as surface gloss of these presently available multi-layer metal sheets used for tubes for packaging and dispensing the product is less than about 250 at an angle of 20° measured by Gloss meter and conforming to ASTM D-523.